In a stunning surprise, the federal Commission on Equity and Excellence dismissed the reforms of the Bush-Obama era and called for a fresh approach. What is remarkable about the commission report is that the members were appointed by Secretary Duncan. Its members include a solid bloc of corporate reformers, but clearly they did not prevail.

Quite frankly, I was expecting a reprise of the corporate reformer mantra: more charter schools, more vouchers, more competition, more inexperienced teachers, more testing, and more online learning will end the deeply rooted poverty in our society and lift all boats. Test more often, fire more teachers, lower standards for entry into teaching, close more schools.

But this commission did not echo the popular and failed nostrums of the past generation.. It demanded more resources for the neediest students, better prepared teachers, early childhood education, health and social services, and a deliberate effort to reduce segregation.

Since 1983, when “A Nation at Risk” was published by another federal commission, the policymakers at the state and national levels have followed the formula of testing, accountability (read: punishment), and choice. With what results? After three decades, we now have a raging, destructive movement to privatize public education, bash teachers, remove their academic freedom, replace them with temps, and use standardized tests to judge and punish teachers, principals, and schools.

The heroes of this “movement” are entrepreneurs, foundation executives, and think tank thinkers, who express contempt for public schools and those who work in them. We are on our way to creating (re-creating) dual school systems in cities across the nation and giving public dollars to schools that are free to exclude the neediest students. A “movement” that talks incessantly about results and data-based decision-making has become impervious to the meager results of its own policies and has now turned into an ideological war against public education.

Secretary Duncan should read the report of his commission. For the first time in 30 years, a federal commission tells the nation what it needs to hear. We can expect the corporate reform leaders to ignore the report.

This, quite frankly, is the agenda President Obama’s supporters had expected in 2008. Will he listen?

I am going to forward this to our STate legislative leaders and the Governor. However, since they are all ALEC clones I doubt it will have any effect. Yet one can always tilt at windmills when necessary.

I hate to say it, but Diane Ravitch misses the boat here completely and so, I think, do some of the members of the commission who have been hoodwinked in to a long term strategy on the part of Corporate Reformers. This reports calls for changing “District” funding by “zip code” at the state level. While those notions appeal to our better democratic angels Reformers want this because they know the “opening” of good Districts to students outside those Districts will — for better or worse reasons — begin a steady flight to private schools and enhance the number of voters who don’t want to pay any taxes for public schools. That is, there will be no state or fed money newly coming in to promote a more just system — simply a reallocation that does damage. Call it the Michigan model as this is clearly the logic behind Michigan reformers.

Reformers want this because they know the “opening” of good Districts to students outside those Districts will — for better or worse reasons — begin a steady flight to private schools and enhance the number of voters who don’t want to pay any taxes for public schools.

I don’t follow this. Isn’t there a built-in check against the “flight to private schools” you describe, namely, the ability of parents to afford private schools? Your hypothetical seems to be focusing on people who can’t afford to move outside their own district to a “good District,” so I don’t see how those same people would end up enrolling their children in private schools. I may be misunderstanding your point, though.

District boundaries are impermeable. I don’t think Bloomfield MI will open its schools to voucher students from Detroit any time soon… and that ISN’T what the so-called “reformers” want… they want cut-rate vouchers that urban parents can cash in at cut-rate charter chains so their taxes will go down and their property values will stay the same. I think this report wants to see per pupil costs in urban areas that match per pupil costs in the most affluent districts in their State… The price tag would be stunning— but it would pale in comparison to the cost of our “nation building” misadventures in the Middle East.

It didn’t work even in Louisiana where where A and B districts were permitted to take students from “failing” schools (below B). No districts would participate. They don’t want someone else’s problems on their doorsteps.

If they’re trying to program learning into living people and not zombies, they could look at a few things. Bring back the three that set us free, P.E., art, and music. At minimum, if they want kids to absorb better, they need more recess to recharge their minds.

No, President Obama will not listen. He’s a complete phony, that we all know, but don’t blame me. You voted for him. Evidence is slowly emerging that the election was stolen by the usual Democrat Party tricks, such as bussing mentally retarded to polls and instructing them how to vote. Why should the opposition NOT demonize public schools when most teachers and the teachers union support such corruption. The public school establishment has knifed itself in the back by supporting Obama. I haven’t an ounce of compassion for the public school establishment. The system deserves to be voucherized and charterized, though as you point out the children will suffer. But when did the public school systems care about kids? Fifty years ago, maybe. They stopped when as a public sector entitity they sold out to unionization. Desegregation is essential to build a non-racist society, but how can it be done without sacrificing excellence? Only by a massive infusion of resources for health care and student care. But Obama is ONLY interested in paying off people who might escape being in the tank for him. As long as teachers are in his pocket, the public schools won’t get squat.

Mr. Underhill,
As a former teacher, counselor and principal, I totally agree with you. Please take the time to read my book, “Yes, We Are STUPID in America!”. Our education system started failing when the federal government got involved.

What do you think the chances are that the mainstream news media will actually report this. Have you ever noticed that none of the mainstream media web sites have education links on their home pages? I believe that is how they control what the public hears, only those things that they want to speak about actually air. They have links for politics, sports and even travel, but education? Who wants to hear the full story about that? Unless it is negative toward public education that is. I am sure Faux News will spend lots of time on it, probably discrediting it will be all that they do. I haven`t much faith in the other news organizations either as they now get most of their news from social media. My fingers are crossed as it is certainly a step in the right direction. Retweet it so everyone knows.

Let us not forget that the shortcomings and underperformance of our students and schools is not limited to the areas in poverty. Even our better, our best schools are underperforming, due in large part to the same “reforms” described by Ravitch.

I have only read through half of the report, but there is an awful lot of rephorm language in this report with rephorm solutions. They make obvious statistical claims about the losses we have sustained in GNP because of our dwindling population of 21st century skills prepared workers. They still paint the state of education in the US as a national embarassment and continue to tout illegitimate comparisons with small homogeneous city-states and countries. CCSS, whose origins are in a grassroots movement, are the route to salvation.

We really need to read this report carefully. They are mixing in some things we have been pushing: equitable funding and resources to all schools and they make a few noises in support of teachers. Granted, this is only my take on the first 20-25 pages, and my opinion is not based on a thorough, critical reading, but the report does need to be taken apart and carefully examined, but I’m too tired to ingest more tonight.

2Old2teach: you are right about the report of the federal Commission on Equity and Education. It contains a lot of the rephormy doom and gloom, but it is so much better than what I expected. It did recognize that poverty matters. It did not praise vouchers or charters or TFA. Progress.